Sophomore Slump?
By MAYA BOKHARI '20
Hearing students complain about the stress their teachers cause during the spring is all too common. End of year projects, papers, and tests in all classes have a way of being due all at once. The infamous junior spring gives a quarter of our population a reason to complain at this time of the year. Freshmen often complain about their physics DYOs or their Class IV history research papers. Although Freshman year, by comparison, may not be as critical or as challenging as Junior year, this spring may hold just about the highest levels of stress that the Freshmen have ever experienced. Sophomores’ complaints are frequently overlooked because of the so called “sophomore slump.” All too often, teachers, advisors, parents, and upperclassmen discount the challenges of Sophomore year, but now with the addition of Class III US History, Sophomore year has become increasingly challenging.
Ask around in the hallways, and you will hear that February and May are considered the most stressful months of the school year. These months leading up to the spring and summer vacations force teachers to produce graded material all at once. From February’s frantic push for graded assignments come mid-year projects, unit tests, and the upperclassmen US History research paper. May brings history research papers for Modern World History, Ancient Civilizations, and Class III US History. The sheer number of students focused on their research papers in May means that nearly half of the upper school has to deal with both the research paper and the DYO, arguably the biggest projects of the Milton experience, simultaneously. This population of suffering students, however, includes only underclassmen. In this sense, junior spring should not be considered as stressful as underclassmen spring. To narrow down this group even further, the Modern World and Ancient Civilization research papers do not have a significant impact on one’s future. By process of elimination, sophomores taking US History seem to have the most stressful spring term due to the overwhelming combination of DYO season and the research paper.
Yes, sophomores have it worse than freshmen, juniors, and definitely seniors in the month of May, but that struggle really stems from the introduction of Class III US History. First of all, where did the term “sophomore slump” originate? Since sophomore year has traditionally served as the year to fulfill Milton’s Arts Program requirement, sophomores have often had a significantly lighter overall course load. Now, US History —a course that many are advised against taking alongside a more challenging course like Honors Biology— has taken the place of the course that made the “sophomore slump” what it was. Struck by two of Milton’s major milestones at once, sophomores taking US History definitely do not know what a true “sophomore slump” feels like. However, by postponing the arts requirement, will junior or senior year become the new lull in Milton’s upper school experience? Or will Class III US History prove to cause too much stress for sophomores and result in a withdrawal of the program? Either way, as long as sophomores continue to make the choice to take on both the DYO and the US History research paper simultaneously, the “sophomore slump” may have to be renamed.